Abstract
The textile industry has a substantial impact on the environment, society, and the economy due to its vast production scale, resource consumption, and waste generation. Therefore, it represents a crucial topic for Environmental Sustainability Education (ESE). Changing learners attitudes and promoting attitude strength is a critical first step for producing lasting changes in behavior. Among others, knowledge, importance and values are determinants of attitude strength. In this study, we investigate whether attitude strength towards sustainable textile consumption can be influenced more effectively by a cognitive/ knowledge oriented or an affective / value-oriented learning setting. 120 students are assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In the knowledge condition, they will elaborate relevant information about sustainable textile behavior through infographics about sustainability and textile industry presented in a learning platform. In the affective appeal condition, the students will experience personal stories of personas dealing with the negative impact of unsustainable behavior. These storytelling elements are presented in a video-based environment. Knowledge, mood changes, attitude strengths and behavioral intention are measured. Preliminary studies indicate e. g. that the affective appeal condition leads to a greater change along the dimension of valence and a higher attitude strength compared to the knowledge condition. However, regarding behavioral intention, only minor differences are observed. In the future, additionally direct measurement of behavior should be considered, for instance, by conducting trial purchases in virtual reality environments.
Presenters
Simone KubowitschProfessor, Business Psychology, Technical University of Applied Science Augsburg, Bayern, Germany Heiko Dreizler
Hochschule Augsburg Sarah Hatfield
Professor, Business Psychology, Augsburg Technical University of Applied Sciences, Bayern, Germany
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—People, Education, and Technology for a Sustainable Future
KEYWORDS
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION, ATTITUDE STRENGTH, STORYTELLING, KNOWLEDGE
